Just my way of sharing with family, friends, and anyone who will listen, the things that I have learned about my ancestors with a little bit about myself and my own little family in the mix.

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Mom Mom and Granddaddy's House

My aunt Janice Murrell and granddaddy Harold Murrell

sitting on the front steps.

Charlie (my grandpa's dog), me and grandpa.

Oh my goodness. When I started to do this post today, I closed my eyes first and pictured being inside my paternal grandparent's house. I bet that someone of you out there do that. You close your eyes and you're just there. I usually start with the back of the house, because it was the heart of the home. Whenever my parents, brother, and I would come by and visit we would usually enter by the backdoor through the kitchen. The kitchen had that brown wood paneling that was very popular in the seventies. You know...this stuff.

Yeah, this stuff. Good ole 60's and 70's wood paneling.

Their paneling was actually a little bit darker. You can see it in the picture below. They also had dark wood cabinetry which seemed to make the space even smaller but I didn't mind because this was grandma's zone. She loved to cook and you would usually be greeted by the smell of fresh rolls as you entered the back door of the house.

Me and my grandma Ethel Murrell

in her kitchen.

In the backyard, I would build forts out of folding lawn chairs and daydream. I would admire the beautiful flowers my grandma had planted all around the house. I learned how to ride my bike in their driveway. There were those conversations I had with my aunt Janice. She lived with her parents. She spoke of how her favorite color was green and how she preferred to sit in the sun. That's when I learned that the sun helped people make vitamin D and that was good for you. I liked the shade and would sit there with paper and pencil. Sometimes, it would be a coloring book and crayons. I would draw countless cards with flowers or grass, rainbows, a sun and M birds in the sky.

This is the envelope to one of the many cards that I made when I was little.

I would make so much stuff that my mother would buy in bulk loose leaf paper.

The inside of the card reads, "Dear Mom Mom I hope you will have a very nice day

P.S love and kisses."

Charlie and I in the backyard.

My brother and I at the back door.

My grandparents lived at 110-11 195 St in St Albans, NY. I found out in the last month that Google Maps updated their information to now include a ground level view of the house.

It was a relief to find mom mom and granddaddy's house in better shape than my maternal grandmother's home. If you missed that post here's the link: Mappy Monday: Bits And Pieces Of My Childhood. The fence could use a little paint but hey I'll take it. :)

What a loving home to visit and partly grow up in! Your descriptions and the pictures create such a homey feeling, and I love the photo of you and your grandma Ethel. I know exactly what you mean about closing your eyes and picturing being inside the house. I do that with my aunt's house, which was 4 hours away from where we lived, but I felt I could be there in a moment in my imagination. I still do. I loved to sit in the kitchen and talk with her. She and my cousin seemed to enjoy everything they did. She always had a twinkle in her eye. As I grew older, she would let me feed the two collies. Oh, what a loving and safe feeling it was to be in her house, taking a break from all worry and all criticism. Nothing like that nostalgic feeling. A favorite place. Thanks for sharing your memories and bringing back my own.

A Quote By Rumi

A Quote By Philip Carr-Gomm

When we know about our ancestors, when we sense them as living and as supporting us, then we feel connected to the genetic life-stream, and we draw strength and nourishment from this.

A Quote By Laurence Overmire

Over the course of the millennia, all these ancestors in your tree, generation upon generation, have come down to this moment in time to give birth to you. There has never been, nor will ever be another like you. You have been given a tremendous responsibility. You carry the hopes and dreams of all those who have gone before. Hopes and dreams for a better world. What will you do with your time on this Earth? How will you contribute to the ongoing story of humankind?